Long ago, there was a princess in a far-off land who dwelled all
alone in a high tower along the banks of the Mazy River. She was as clever
as the moon and as beautiful as the sun, but she was terribly lonely. You see,
when she was a child, an evil fairy had placed a curse upon her. The princess
would be the cleverest girl in all the land, but she would instantly fall ill and
perish if she spoke out loud. The only way to break the curse was if she could
prove sixfold that a man was just as clever as she, and marry him and no other.

Word of her plight spread far and wide, and suitons from all across the land
came to woo her and prove their wits were as sharp as hers. The princess
set each man six puzzles she had crafted herself. If a suitor should
solve one of her puzzles, she would give him a smooth stone she had gathered from the banks of the river to mark his accomplishment. But year after year,
her would-be husbands failed to collect more than three or four of the stones
and so the princess remained alone and silent in her tower.

One day, a prince of the city heard her story, and left at once to see with his
own eyes the lovely but wordless princess who set puzzles to baffle even the
brightest of men. The prince was himself a scholar and philosopher of
great fame, but when she saw him, the princess nearly smiled sadly and showed him to the first puzzle, for she had seen many learned men before him try and fail.